Wings Are A Cage
by The Hatter Theory
Summary: Tenzin has always been a creature of duty and honor. Korra is only beginning to learn what those words mean. Kozin Drabblefic, Alternate Canon
1. Chapter 1

Wings Are A Cage  
By: The Hatter Theory  
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

A Note: Okay, this is a Kozin fic guys. Don't like it, don't read it. And every time someone flames, a Hatter does the Futterwhacken.

* * *

The rock flew through the air, hurled with insults and lost in the screaming match. Korra didn't even see it, didn't notice, the voices and stomping drowning out her sense of sight and sound until she was nauseous from vibrations that roiled in the air and sunk into her skin like poison. She would not have noticed it, save for one thing.

Jinora's pained cry sent her wheeling, looking down at the blood the dripped down the girl's face from behind her hand.

Another rock joined that one, and another.

Light drowned out her vision.

Rocks exploded into harmless dust.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	2. Chapter 2

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

Potential, raw and unrefined and hot pushed against her skin, drowned out the voices until there was only the ever expanding fury that demanded freedom. Drowning in the light she felt the entity she knew as herself shredding beneath the blades of power. Energy seared through her, covered her until she was drowning in heat and transforming beneath it.

A girl's cry echoed shrilly through it.

The person she was, the tendrils left in free fall recognized the anguish in the sound, the pain. They wrapped around it, determined to protect.

A roar issued, echoing through the eternity of light.

* * *

Word Count: 100

A/N: People on both FFNet and AO3 have been asking how this is Kozin. It comes. Relatively soon, actually, because I don't believe in never ending drabble series. This one will be a hundred, give or take, posted to daily when RL doesn't screw with my scheduling.

Also, as an announcement, a link on my profile page that leads to ArchiveOfOurOwn is where anything with adult content will be posted from now on. I am in the process of copying my current fics over to it and that is where the uncut versions of my stories will be.


	3. Chapter 3

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

A Note: Patience is a virtue. Your questions about wtf is going on will be answered in the next drabble, which will be posted tomorrow morning.

* * *

A whisper slipped over and through the light. Threads of power, foreign and male and strong, wrapped around her.

_'Come back,'_ it whispered. _'It is safe, we are safe. Come back.'_

Safe. They were safe. The power reacted to the word as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered. And it was.

The light dimmed, faded. Color replaced the never ending white. Lines formed and shapes harmonized.

Blinking, she saw the ruptured, torn earth around her. Saw the terrified gazes of her two friends and the three children with her.

Saw blue eyes laced with concern.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	4. Chapter 4

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"It is the avatar state," He told her.

She'd heard it spoken of before, in hushed whispers.

"They're afraid of me."

"They are."

"You aren't."

It was perhaps the only saving grace.

"I have seen it before."

"Your father."

"He was a peaceful man. But every avatar is human, and every human is prone to anger."

"So I messed up."

"You protected my children."

"But they're scared of me."

"There is always a price for power. Everyone has duties, obligations."

She had a feeling, as she watched him staring blankly at the sky, that he wasn't just speaking about her.

* * *

Word Count: 100

A/N: Hope that clears up the confusion lol.


	5. Chapter 5

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

She avoided the gym after that. It hurt that neither of her friends had come to see her on the island. Despite that, she pretended to be happy. The nature of children allowed the three air benders to accept her for what she was. Or maybe it had been their father's doing, she didn't know. Didn't care. They were distractions from the whispering in the back of her mind, from the visits of Lin Beifong and the myriad reporters that tried to crawl the island.

The lotus guards finally proved useful.

Tenzin's visits into the city took longer each day.

* * *

Word Count: 100

Note: IM NOT DEAD. Expect daily updates now that the laptop lives again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wings Are A Cage**

**By: The Hatter Theory**

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights to Avatar.

* * *

Despite her ease running the gauntlet of spinning gates before, she felt herself get knocked back by one into another until she was little more than a bag of flesh being thrown and slammed into wood. Sharp angles stabbed into her back and bruised not only flesh, but bone. Daylight was lost in bright bolts of light that hazed her vision.

The gates stopped spinning and she gratefully slumped to the ground, not even bothering to leave the maze of frames. Tenzin's shadow stretched across her.

"Concentrate, focus."

"I can't."

"You must."

"I'm _trying_."

"You're _not_."

She growled in frustration.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	7. Chapter 7

Wings Are A Cage  
By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 7  
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

Update 1/2

* * *

He took pity on her, practically carrying her from the obstacle course and taking her to her room. Minutes later he returned with a small jar. She stripped down to her wrappings, a habit she had gotten from Katara. He said nothing, but hands rough from handling a staff soothed the salve into her bruised, sore skin.

"My children tell me you have not bended since that day."

She didn't want to think about it.

"Being a bender is as natural as breathing."

"What I did wasn't," She snapped.

"It is for an avatar."

"Maybe I shouldn't be the avatar."

* * *

Word Count: 100


	8. Chapter 8

Wings Are A Cage  
By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 8  
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

Update 2/2

* * *

The hand rubbed the same spot for several seconds, easing away a knot between her shoulder blades.

"My father often doubted his place as the avatar. The responsibilities of uniting a people and maintaining peace is a daunting one."

"I can't do it. How am I supposed to talk to people that think I'm a monster?"

"You are not a monster, Korra. And it is within your rights to be afraid."

"I'm not supposed to be afraid."

"Whoever told you that lied. Fear is natural. But you must overcome it."

"I'm not sure I can."

"We start tomorrow at dawn."

* * *

Word Count: 100


	9. Chapter 9

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

* * *

He was amazed at how reticent she seemed. The bold, brash girl that had greeted in in an interrogation room was gone, replaced by a shy, diffident creature, twitching and jumping at her own shadow.

Earth crumbled before taking form, fire flared erratically, even water shuddered and wavered before soaking the grass beneath their feet.

"I can't do it," She whispered, voice cracking.

"Perhaps we should try some air forms. No bending, just the kata."

She seemed relieved by the suggestion, making him flinch. She was a far cry from the boisterous, eager girl that had arrived in the city.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	10. Chapter 10

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

* * *

Anxiety echoed through her movements. Before she had been too eager, too rash. Now she was timid and terrified. Neither suited an airbender.

"Korra, you must not be afraid of your own nature."

"How am I supposed to not be afraid?" She demanded.

"Accept that the avatar state is a part of you."

"Like a hundred past lives are?" She snapped. "Every time I turn around it's like I'm not even me anymore."

He saw the fear in her eyes, wondered if, unlike his father, she saw the avatar state as not another aspect of herself, but someone else entirely.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	11. Chapter 11

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

A Note: Wow I suck on the whole posting thing. I've been playing catchup with another story of mine, and now I'm doing it with this. Posting chapters 11-20 consecutively.

* * *

"Come with me."

She looked hesitant, almost afraid.

"Trust me."

He grabbed his staff and wrapped an arm around her. She was heavier than his children, he hoped the glider wouldn't give. Perhaps Oogi would have been the better option.

"We're flying."

"Gliding," He corrected. "No one can fly without the aid of bending."

"Even the avatar?"

"Even the avatar."

She tightened her grip on him, almost crushing his ribs.

"Where are we going?"

"A safe place."

It didn't take long to get there, his exhalations guiding them into the winds and through them.

"Where are we?"

"The air temple."

* * *

Word Count: 100


	12. Chapter 12

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"It's beautiful," She whispered, awestruck.

He said nothing, letting her walk up the rarely used path that had grown past neat and not quite reached wild and overgrown. Lush. Flowers bloomed and trees were heavy with fruit. In the light of day it looked almost run down, decrepit.

But she didn't see that, and he can tell. She saw it for what it was. A retreat, a sanctuary.

"It feels free here."

He understood because it is the only place he had ever felt free, and he felt a sense of loss because he was giving the secret away forever.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	13. Chapter 13

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"Can we try the kata here?"

The question was surprising and gratifying. A sliver of her confidence returned, reflecting in her buoyant movements. Her forms were awful, but they were not filled with hesitation. He said nothing of the world below, and she was too enraptured by the movements to notice. Or if she did, she said nothing.

Day dimmed to night.

She smile at the clear, starry sky, free of city lights.

"Can you teach me here?"

"It is yours."

"I don't want a whole island to myself," She sighed.

He remembered his father's loneliness.

"Then it is ours."

* * *

Word Count: 100


	14. Chapter 14

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"She needs to learn her duties."

She needs to learn airbending.

Korra heard the words and can't stop the feeling of wanting to hide, of needing to make herself smaller.

"Amon is using her slip up to his advantage. The people are terrified she'll go berserk again."

"She must learn airbending before she can master the avatar state. Otherwise she could trigger it again and have no control."

"What's taking her so long?"

"She needs time. After the incident she's afraid of triggering it again."

"The avatar has no time for fear."

"She is only human."

'_Thank you_,' She thought.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	15. Chapter 15

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"You heard Lin and I today."

She nodded quietly, feeling ashamed for having eavesdropped and defiant for Lin's impatience.

"It will come with time."

"We don't have time."

He seemed pleased by her frustration.

"Do you feel up to bending?"

Her foot tapped against the ground and the rocks around it began to dance. It's the first bending she'd done since returning from the city.

"I will retrieve my glider."

She couldn't shake the thrumming energy, and for the first time in over two weeks she played with a fireball in her hands. The warmth answered readily despite her negligence.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	16. Chapter 16

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

Fire and earth and water obeyed easily. But air still seemed to elude her, perhaps dancing even further away to mock her frustration.

"Air is the element of change and freedom," He told her quietly.

"I've never been free."

"You are free here," He reminded her. And he was telling the truth, because there are no guards or citizens to watch.

Moving behind her, he reached around and gently held her wrists.

"Spread your fingers."

She did, and he began moving her hands back and forth, blowing small gusts of air in different directions.

"Feel the currents."

She rocked gently.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	17. Chapter 17

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

He stepped back, surprised that she has reached a meditative state through movement, although he realized then that he shouldn't have been shocked. Pride filled him as he watched his student, oblivious to everything, even the currents of air she moved and bended, as she rocked and swayed.

The winds grew stronger and her feet carried her through the practice yard.

Her eyes opened and a breathless laugh escaped, the first he had heard from her in weeks.

"I've got it!"

She tried to force it into a ball. It burst, knocking her back into a wall.

She continued laughing.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	18. Chapter 18

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

He rediscovered the wonder of bending through her. What had become commonplace became beauty and magic. He taught her the forms used for hundreds of years, and she showed him alterations, bits and pieces of other elemental kata weaving into them until he saw a new style of bending, something that pulled from all places and spiraled into one dance.

She explained as much as she was able. Her words were not eloquent, she spoke of feeling and rightness, and he realized that she she had found the spiritual side of herself, had had it. She only lacked a voice.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	19. Chapter 19

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"Why are you down on the island instead of here?"

He nodded in understanding, then shrugged. It is an old argument, one he lost many times.

"The Order believes that the air nation should be among the people. It will encourage better relations."

She dimmed at the mention of the Order. It is a feeling he knew well, but hid.

"Do they control everything?"

"The world is a paisho board to them, and we are pieces. But they see further than most."

"I wish I could be free of them."

"Me too," He sighs, and realized too late his error.

* * *

Word Count: 100


	20. Chapter 20

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend of Korra

* * *

"What do you mean? I thought air was meant to be free."

Her consternation was a palpable thing.

"After my father I was the last airbender. It could not be allowed to continue as such."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a duty to the air nation and the world."

"You're telling me they told you to have children? Like some sort of breeding stud?"

The words opened an old wound, although her anger soothed the pain he had always thought selfish.

"Pema's line has always been receptive to benders. It is for the best."

"_Like hell!_"

He smiled sadly.

Word Count: 100

* * *

And that's it until tomorrow (as in Thursday). Umm. I have this mostly written, it just needs editing, so I'll probably be update bombing from now on. Anywho, reviews are awesome and always appreciated.


	21. Chapter 21

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

Update 1/2

* * *

"I love my children and my life. I would not trade them for the world."

"You should have been allowed to have them on your own terms."

Her fury was a comfort, in it's way. It was a selfish comfort, one he allowed himself in the privacy of their seclusion.

"It was my duty."

"And you just accepted?" She demanded, obviously irate.

"Not at first. The Order reminds me that I could have fathered half a nation had I started earlier."

"You're human, you're more than just breeding stock!"

The words mattered more than she could ever guess.

"Thank you."

* * *

Word Count: 100


	22. Chapter 22

Wings Are A Cage

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Legend Of Korra

Update 2/2

* * *

She was stupefied by his gratitude, so much so that she shut up completely. Stunned, she listened as a story was told in as detached a manner possible, and for him, it was very detached. It was as if he told a story that happened to someone else, and not one that was his life. And her heart hurt because even if he was happy, it still rang as wrong.

The very nature of his gift was freedom, and it was the reason he had none at all.

"Just be Tenzin here."

And he had another reason to be grateful.

* * *

Word Count: 100


End file.
